Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Fight them, without becoming them!

“woke” is the new caravan.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Military / Saturday Evening Open Thread: Vice President Harris At the US Naval Academy

Saturday Evening Open Thread: Vice President Harris At the US Naval Academy

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Y’all enjoying your weekend, so far?

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98Comments

  2. 2.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    those pics do me good after a discussion of racism in the military on the Nicolle Wallace program yesterday, and all the lunacy we’ve seen from active and retired officers in the last few years

  4. 4.

    SiubhanDuinne

    That conversation between VP Harris and Midshipman Barber (in the White House tweet) is worth listening to.

  5. 5.

    Mary G

    When she put on the jacket, there was such a big cheer! She was my first choice because she just epitomizes a joyful warrior – stern and serious when it’s called for, and then let loose that infectious smile and laugh. I just sigh in relief. TFG was so whiny/angry/piss-off-the- liberals all the time

    ETA: it always a bit of a shock when I see her next to people and remember that she’s physically tiny but can just carry herself as big as anybody.

  7. 7.

    Geminid

    @Baud: Those pictures are awesome. I really liked the one of Kamala Harris putting on the jacket. A gift, I guess from the graduating class.

  10. 10.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mary G:

    I love MVP’s laugh! It should be a ringtone :-)

    Virtually every photo of TFG shows him scowling or pouting or grimacing, except for a very few in which he’s baring his teeth in a kind of constipated smile-like rictus.

  12. 12.

    Amir Khalid

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    It says a lot about TFG that in seven-plus decades he has never really learned how to smile — a feat that infants manage without any conscious effort.

  13. 13.

    Villago Delenda Est

    We’ll have to see what happens to these fine young ensigns as they hit the actual Navy and experience the adventure.

    I’m hopeful.

  14. 14.

    MagdaInBlack

    @SiubhanDuinne: I love it too, I’d get that ringtone.

    As to TFG, he is one of the most humorless people I’ve ever seen. What passes for humor is mean spirited and cruel.

  15. 15.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Amir Khalid:

    SAD!!

     

    ETA: Fred Trump must have been a real piece of work. Not excusing Donald, but I do feel rather sorry for the baby he once was.

  16. 16.

    Dan B

    Kamala always seems like fireworks level of energy.  The class president seems lit up.  I expect it’s common for him but today seems like he’s as happy as he’s ever been.  It’s such a contrast to the raging RWNJ’s.

  20. 20.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Singer BJ Thomas has died, raindrops are no longer falling on his head. I skimmed over his obit and now I have an ear worm of the Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song. My mom loved that fucking song.

  22. 22.

    mrmoshpotato

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Virtually every photo of TFG shows him scowling or pouting or grimacing, except for a very few in which he’s baring his teeth in a kind of constipated smile-like rictus. 

    Yup.  I doubt the walking dungheap* has ever smiled genuinely in his life.

    *Apologies to dungheaps.

  26. 26.

    Ken

    @debbie: I blame wokeness, whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean.  Maybe it’s as simple as having your eyes open and being aware of what’s in front of you?

  27. 27.

    Geminid

    There is some interesting news out of Israel tonight, reported in the Jerusalem Post: After Benjamin Netanyahu’s failed to form a government, Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid was given the mandate, and he apparently  has negotiated a seven party coalition government. It will be composed of two liberal parties with 13 Knesset Members, two centrist parties with 25 MKs (including Yesh Atid’s 17 MKs), and three right wing parties with 20 MKs. Although these total only 58 out of the 120 Knesset members, the 10 Arab MKs from two parties are expected to abstain in the vote next week, enabling a minority government.

    Six of the seven coalition parties were determined to oust Netanyahu. The seventh, Yamina, played hard to get, and it’s leader, the weaselly Naftali Bennet, will be premier first and then be followed in two years by Lapid.

    This coalition could break up before it is presented to Israeli President Rivlin and is voted on in the Knesset next week, but the Times of Israel reports that Bennet has already been given extra security as the future premier.

  28. 28.

    Calouste

    @debbie: Good thing, TFG doesn’t show up anymore. Has anyone seen him live or on camera in the last four months? He doesn’t even post videos on his blog, does he? (Probably can’t afford the bandwidth)

  32. 32.

    Ken

    @Geminid: will be premier first and then be followed in two years

    I don’t know which seems stranger to me — that these arrangements are allowed in the parliamentary system, or that people keep falling for agreeing to them. Didn’t the last guy who made that agreement find that it’s not worth that much, when the government has fallen before his turn comes up?

  35. 35.

    Geminid

    @Uncle Cosmo: Knowledgeable observers estimate that between the trial’s snail-like pace and potential appeals, it may take two years to reach a definitive resolution of Netanyahu’s criminal case.

  37. 37.

    Another Scott

    Excellent.  Just excellent all around.

    In other news, Krebs – Using info in fake reviews to find scammers:

    Fake, positive reviews have infiltrated nearly every corner of life online these days, confusing consumers while offering an unwelcome advantage to fraudsters and sub-par products everywhere. Happily, identifying and tracking these fake reviewer accounts is often the easiest way to spot scams. Here’s the story of how bogus reviews on a counterfeit Microsoft Authenticator browser extension exposed dozens of other extensions that siphoned personal and financial data.

    […]

    Here’s hoping that the big companies and app stores automate searches like these so that these abuses are ended faster.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  38. 38.

    trollhattan

    Was there a ramp? Bottled water? How’d she do?

    Three cheers for our new normal. What a difference a year makes.

  39. 39.

    Ruckus

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I’ve never felt sorry for him, his siblings are relatively normal and he never was. He’s the family shit stain, like his dad and from what I’ve heard, his granddad. He’s had a gold plated life, that with his amazingly crappy brain and personality he’s turned into pure turd with legs. And he did that at an early age.

  40. 40.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Speaking of the former guy, this is a good thread on why it’s pointless to woo his voters.

    One thing you see a lot on here is people pointing out the contradictions in the putative views of Trump’s GOP. COVID is a Chinese plot but also a hoax. The insurrection was antifa but also a tour of patriots.

    — Will Stancil (@whstancil) May 29, 2021

  44. 44.

    Geminid

    @Ken: Netanyahu did precipitate an early election that would keep coalition partner Benny Gantz from taking over the premeirship this coming November. But Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party still held the agreed-to ministries, including the important power centers of the Defence, Foreign, and Justice Ministries. Blue and White Justice Minister Nissekorn was an especial thorn in Netanyahu’s side. Nissekorn effectively blocked Netanyahu’s efforts to have his criminal case dropped. That’s when Netanyahu caused the last election. So, I guess you could say Benny Gantz will have the last laugh.

  46. 46.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    ETA: Fred Trump must have been a real piece of work. Not excusing Donald, but I do feel rather sorry for the baby he once was.

    Mary Trump’s book lays it out. His mother had a lot of physical and mental health issues, spent a lot of his early childhood in the hospital or in her room. And Fred was a monster.

  49. 49.

    MagdaInBlack

    Off the tfg topic, My friend who is attending a wedding at a Maine farm venue, has just sent me a picture of the dessert table. I am cursing her with foul words because she’s a tease AND the silly woman doesn’t like sweets. WTF?

    But yay, she’s out and doing normal things finally ?

  51. 51.

    JML

    I finished one book and I’m 2/3 through another one this weekend (will finish with ease). Took friday off from work and didn’t check email once. Grilling again tonight (burgers last night, pork chops tonight). Had some fine beers last night. Going to a baseball game tomorrow. Playing board games with other vaccinated friends on Monday.

    This is a nice, relaxing weekend, and I’ve needed it.

  53. 53.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Oh yes, I’m familiar with that part of his life (from Mary Trump and other biographers). That’s why I do feel a bit sorry for the 2-year-old Donald. His older siblings were of an age that they had other coping skills, however limited, but DJT was at a peculiarly vulnerable stage of development. I think the hideously damaged person we came to know and loathe was and is a product of that little boy’s insecurities, his mother’s long absence, and his father’s toxicity.

    As I said, though, none of this is in any way to excuse TFG for anything.

  56. 56.

    zhena gogolia

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    It’s a great book. Donald is the one who learned how to avoid being abused by abusing the other siblings (emotionally). It’s a very convincing portrait of a horrible family. It did give me just a smidgen of sympathy for TFG while at the same time denouncing him.

  59. 59.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Steeplejack (phone): Agreed, excellent thread. The only thing I would add is the exchange…the “freedom to do and think whatever they feel at any moment”, however contradictory, for blind loyalty is not in any sense equal. He deplores his deplorables more than we do.

    Better to focus on Kamala, her spontaneous joy and warmth. I would love to have those qualities.

  60. 60.

    Skepticat

    The genuine, celebratory smiles make me very happy. A high school friend was the brigade commander at Annapolis in 1965 and then went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, and Midshipman Barber is a worthy successor. The academy has come a long way—and in the right direction.

  61. 61.

    Ruckus

    @Mary G:

    I’d bet that being a woman had a bit to do with it as well. She was never going to get the same treatment/expectations as TFG. She made something of her education, TFG was basically incapable of that. She had the tools as a human and likely far less of the phony BS of her dad that TFG got the full force of and he still managed to screw that up.

  63. 63.

    Ruckus

    @Amir Khalid:

    It’s possible that he’s never learned to smile because he’s just that screwed up. As you point out babies smile all the time, but some forget that, they learn to expect things that are supposed to make one happy but they really don’t, money for example. It’s obvious, from all of those who supposedly have way too much money that it doesn’t make anyone happy. Because if it’s having money that supposedly makes you happy, it’s quite likely that no matter how much you have, it’s never enough.

    That’s Catch $$.

    It’s a lot worse than Catch 22.

  64. 64.

    Geminid

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I wonder if trump will come to Virginia to “help” Glenn Youngkin’s campaign for governor. That’s the last thing Youngkin needs. trump is the biggest GOTV machine Virginia Democrats ever had. But trump craves the spotlight, and if he wants to come, Youngkin and the rest of the Virginia Republicans won’t have the guts to tell him to stay away.

  67. 67.

    JML

    @mrmoshpotato: Twins v. Royals. Not exactly a clash of titans, and yet I don’t care a bit. May is a mighty fine month for outdoor baseball in MN and it’s a great stadium to watch a game.

  68. 68.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Nick Knudsen @NickKnudsenUS 28m
    People trashing “Democrats” are doing the GOP’s messaging work. If you want to call out specific people (Schumer, Sinema, Manchin, etc), that makes more sense. “Democrat” is a brand – and the vast bulk of Dems in elected office are doing amazing work. Just be more specific.

    This addresses a pet peeve of mine– over the last week, a lot of people who know better (Maddow, Hayes, Molly Jong-Fast) have been pretending they don’t understand why “Democrats” are letting Mitch McConnell get away with so much shit. And having historically been pretty lukewarm on Schumer, I think he’s played his hand about as well as anyone could. 
    On a simple human level, does Joe Manchin really not know that McConnell and Graham and Cruz and the other trumpers across the aisle are laughing at him?

  72. 72.

    Mike in NC

    We took the Old Town Trolley Tour in Key West today. A good deal like the ones in Charleston  and Savannah. Got off to visit the Hemingway Museum. He was a war correspondent in France in 1944, and was so essential that General Patton awarded him an honorary Bronze Star since he spoke the language, knew the geography, and knew key Resistance leaders from the time he lived in Paris. The museum is filled with cats descended from Hemingway’s original critters. Tomorrow we head home.

  73. 73.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @laura: @MagdaInBlack: Tom Nichols does a thing on Saturdays where he live-tweets replays of Casey Kasem’s Top Forty, today was 1971 and it included the Chick-a-boom song, which I vaguely remember from some cartoon about monsters who had a rock band, and I always thought they made up that song for the cartoon.

    Also not one but two versions of “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” from Godspell, and a Partridge family song.

  75. 75.

    Geminid

    @JML: Kansas City’s new center fielder, Michael A. Taylor, might be fun to watch. Taylor is a middling hitter, but he’s an outstanding defensive outfielder.

  76. 76.

    Ruckus

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Great minds think alike? No that’s not it….

    I have not read her book, nor do I plan to bother. But it’s not exactly a new theory, that of crappy people with too much money, or people made crappy by too much money. I myself have never had to worry about that.

  80. 80.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Ruckus: no matter how much you have, it’s never enough.

    “I’d give it all up, for just a little bit more.” — C. Montgomery Burns

  85. 85.

    david

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    The cartoon was Sabrina The Teenage Witch and the monster band was the Groovie Goolies (Drac, Wolfie, and Frankie). Yes, the early 70s were the preteen years and bad cartoons were the staple of Saturday mornings.

    White-haired Sabrina > Yellow-haired Sabrina, btw.

  86. 86.

    Ruckus

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    Yep. It’s not like I invented the concept, that’s for sure, others have noticed it throughout time.

    Money and power.

    Both can easily corrupt. And often have.

  88. 88.

    Comrade Colette

    My niece received her commission today from VP Harris – she’s in one of the linked photos (although I’ll preserve her privacy and not ID her). So proud.

  90. 90.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Geminid: Allow me to earnestly hope that the judge in Bibi’s case has the chutzpah to order him remanded to custody in their most rudimentary slammer without bail for the entire long drawn-out process.

  92. 92.

    artem1s

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Yup.  I doubt the walking dungheap* has ever smiled genuinely in his life.

    Oh he did. whenever he was contemplating someone else’s pain and suffering it was the only time he showed an expression that looked genuine and not forced or faked.  whether that feeling was happiness is debatable

    The weird thing is narcissists and even sociopaths usually get pretty good at feigning emotions for their audiences, families and people they are around every day.  for someone who spent so much time on camera, it’s pretty amazing he never quite pinned that one down.

  93. 93.

    cmorenc

    @Ruckus:

     It’s obvious, from all of those who supposedly have way too much money that it doesn’t make anyone happy. Because if it’s having money that supposedly makes you happy, it’s quite likely that no matter how much you have, it’s never enough.

    The valid principle is that: the absence of money can make you unhappy, rather than that the possession of money can make you happy.  Profound difference there – absence of money can cause obstacles to attaining happiness and satisfaction, but money itself doesn’t necessarily bring happiness and satisfaction with it.

  94. 94.

    LiminalOwl

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes, this.

    I’m sure TFG learned to smile, as infants do. I’m also sure, having read Mary Trump’s book, that Fred’s emotions and behavior extinguished genuine smiles at a deep neurobiological level.

    I feel compassion for the child Donald was, though none for the adult he chose to become.

  95. 95.

    LiminalOwl

    @MagdaInBlack: nitpick alert: Blue SWede. (I didn’t have the 45, because I hated the song. Not per se, but because a bully parodied it and sang it nastily at me.)

    I did have a few 45s, starting with “Black Water” (a song I do still love) and “Touch Me In the Morning.”

  97. 97.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @LiminalOwl: lol.

    petri is a trust fund baby (just like her paper’s previous ownership). effectively, she’s cokie roberts, if cokie wanted to write for community instead of this week.

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